


Chasing a Dream

by nocturnal08



Category: Treasure Planet (2002)
Genre: Age Difference, Christmas Cookies, Cute Kids, Disney, F/M, Family Feels, Father-Son Relationship, First Kiss, Holidays, Kidnapping, M/M, Post-Movie(s), Rescue Missions, Sappy Ending, Space Pirates, Swordfighting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-20
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-02 09:27:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2807612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nocturnal08/pseuds/nocturnal08
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jim Hawkins chooses adventure and romance over more respectable pursuits. But following his heart gets him into a lot of trouble.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Settiai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Settiai/gifts).



“Sometimes plans go astray.”  
“You give up a few things, chasing a dream.” 

Chapter One

When Jim first began his career as a clean-cut spacer aboard the Silver Dart, he was looking for John everywhere. Each time they pulled into harbor, he’d find himself in an inn darker and seedier than the Benbow, hoping to see the cranky old cyborg, or to get word of his adventures. And he couldn’t help the sting of disappointment when five years passed and John was still just a legend and a memory, one that both haunted and guided him. He soldiered on, learning his trade, becoming a competent space sailor, but part of him was still playing out the same adolescent angst that had sent him careening around restricted airspace as a fatherless kid. Without John Silver, he was rudderless and wild, earning a reputation as a loose cannon and a liability. 

That was what his latest captain had told him, when he’d cut Jim loose and left him rotting in a cell, unable to pay the fine for brawling and left behind in disgrace. Jim was hung over and glad to at least have a dry bunk on which to lay his pounding head. Glad, that is, until a familiar voice cracked through the quiet of the trading post barracks. 

“Ensign Hawkins!” Captain Amelia's cat-eyes sparked with disapproval and Jim stumbled to his feet. Her impeccable uniform made Jim’s seem all the more dirty and rumpled and he blushed, one hand quickly rubbing at the worst stains and folding down his collar. 

This wasn’t the first time Jim had fallen short of Captain Amelia’s exacting standards. He had his moments of brilliance, but his brash nature and smart mouth meant he didn’t get on with many crews. He needed a firm hand, which most captains tired of after a few months of argument and attitude. Amelia found herself in the unenviable position of having step in when space got rough. He had been her cabin boy and by now they were practically family. 

Morph must have sent word to the Legacy, letting the Captain know that Jim was in trouble… again. The little creature was back now, scolding and chittering on Jim’s shoulder. 

Captain Amelia treated Jim to an icy silence, but she paid his debt in full and he was allowed to follow her out to the quiet street and down to the busier docks, where the Captain’s refurbished ship stood bobbing proudly in the wind. 

“I didn’t know you were in the neighborhood,” Jim said lightly, grinning at Morph.

The look he got from the Captain for that was so sharp that Jim hurriedly schooled his features. The only reason he’d received a commission at all was because of Captain Amelia. Now he was unassigned, unemployed and even more in debt to her. 

The Captain strode up the gangplank with purpose and Jim followed, sighing. He brightened when he saw Doctor Doppler and the kids. His old friend and traveling companion was frowning at him, but the litter said a brief hello to their mother before tackling their “Uncle Jim” with enthusiasm. Jim gathered them up in his arms, breathing in the smell of their fur. 

“Ow!” he said when Caroline sunk her claws in a little too deep while kneading his shoulder affectionately. 

“Alright, you little nippers,” Amelia said, plucking Margot out of Jim’s arm and handing her to Doppler to take care of. “Off of him. Go on Charlie, there’s a lad.” 

They mewled and yipped, but disappeared with Doppler below deck. “Now you can’t just… Victoria! Come down from there,” Doppler scolded as they walked away.

Jim squinted as he looked out into Space, shielding his eyes from the bright blue glare shining through the Megellanic Cloud. 

Of course it felt familiar, sailing through the stars with Amelia and Doppler, Morph distracting and delighting the little ones. Jim couldn’t help remembering the first time he went to space and what it had awakened inside him. Without being asked, he acquainted himself with the mop and broom, determined to earn his keep while he was aboard. Besides, he’d grown to like the feeling of tired muscles and having time to sort things out in his head. The old cyborg had taught him about that. 

“Alright, Mr. Granger,” Amelia said to the first officer. “Now that we’ve picked up our wayward youth, let us continue on course toward the Bridge of Copernicus.” 

“We’ve got important cargo to take care of,” Doppler said sternly, making Jim feel guilty for driving them off course. 

They docked early the next morning. “Can I trust you to pick up provisions?” Amelia asked, arching her eyebrows. 

“Yes, ma’am!” Jim said, eager to get off the ship again. Trapped aboard the _Legacy_ left him with too much time to contemplate the mess he’d made of his commission and his career. 

He was just picking through some purple potatoes when he felt someone looking at him. “Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” drawled a gruff voice. 

Jim was already turning to growl at the overly forward greeting, color rising on his cheeks, when Morph’s exciting chirping told him this was no ordinary lecherous sailor. 

“It’s you!” he gasped, eyes wide with the shock. 

“In the flesh,” Silver agreed, eyes twinkling. He took a step forward, clunking down hard on his metal peg. “So to speak.” 

“What’s going on?” Jim demanded. His tone was guarded and even a little cold. Glad as he was to see the pirate again, he was older and wiser now, not some easily-manipulated kid. 

“Nothing you need concern yourself with.” Silver’s glance down the path was meant to appear casual, but Jim could feel the urgency in it. 

“I’ve been looking for you,” Jim admitted, though he kept his eyes on the street. This was Long John Silver! A lynch mob might not be too far behind, or worse, an unsavory crew of John’s own choosing. 

“Well, the fates have brought us together again,” John grinned philosophically. 

“So it’s just a coincidence, you being here?” 

“What else would it be?” Silver grumbled, as if his motives were beyond reproach. 

“I don’t know. You’re the one on the wanted posters,” Jim teased, relaxing enough to smile. 

John’s grinned back, even though he seemed nervous. “Alright, alright, Morph,” he said to the excited little shapeshifter, who was retelling their latest great adventures too quickly for Silver to make head or tale of the narrative. “It’s good to see you too.” 

Morph gave a contented sigh and settled on Silver’s shoulder, but John was turned to look only at Jim. Something about that gaze made the heavy part of him get lighter, Jim thought. 

“Come along Jimbo, we’ll have us a drink.” 

Jim knew he shouldn’t trust the old pirate, that courting Silver was courting trouble. “Captain Amelia will bring you up on charges. I can’t be seen with you,” he argued, even as he turned to follow him toward a raucous and filthy storefront. 

“So you’re one of them now?” Silver said, setting himself down on a rickety bar stool. It was dark in the bar, making the light from his cyborg eye gleam. “A proper spacer.” There was an indulgent pride in him as he said it, but Jim turned red. 

“Not exactly,” he admitted, hand wrapping around the shot of strong spirits. Respectability hadn’t suited him. In a way, that made sense. As a child, he hadn’t stayed up late reading tails of trade negotiations and freight manifests. One taste of the open sky with Silver had ruined him for the mundane day-to-day minutiae of the service. He wasn’t like Amelia, with that meticulous eye that made her a fine officer. For all the faith she’d placed in him, Jim knew that wasn’t the life for him. 

Silver knocked back his drink, then waited patiently for Jim to sort himself out. 

“What have you been _doing_ this whole time?” Jim asked, hunched over himself as if that would shield him from scrutiny. The question was a blatant attempt to shift the focus off his own predicament. And whatever it was the notorious John Silver had been up to, Jim was sure it would make a good story. 

“Oh, I’ve been keeping busy,” John replied, motioning for another drink. 

Jim took a small sip from his glass, barely grimacing at the fire and flavor. He’d grown used to it over the last few years. “You’re in trouble. I know that much.” 

“You always were a bright fellow.” John scanned the crowd nervously as he put down his payment. The gold coin gleamed bright on the counter. 

Some good had come of Jim’s time in the service. He’d been trained and drilled at close quarter man-to-man combat. So he heard the scrape of sharp steel, he reacted on instinct, knife dropping to his hand. One glance confirmed the danger and he sunk the knife into the attacker’s thigh. 

John whirled too, striking too slow to have much of an impact but toppling three bar stools with a mighty swing of his robotic leg, then lumbering quickly toward the door. Morph flew at the attacker’s face, having adopted a black crow’s body and a screech all his own.

Jim pulled his knife from the shrieking alien, and quickly followed Silver, more frightened by the thought that the cyborg would disappear again than by the violent encounter. 

John had lost several gears and parts and limped along ferociously down toward the docks. “What are you doing, risking your life for a man like me,” Silver said, rounding on Jim. “You haven’t got any sense in your head!” 

“Hey, I was just trying to help,” Jim snarled back. “He would have killed you!” 

“No, he needs me alive,” John grumbled, limping forward. “I’m the only one who knows where his treasure has been… relocated. Go on back to your ship and leave me be.” 

“Haven’t you got any men? Anyone you can trust? That guy wasn’t kidding around.” 

“Turns out pirates aren’t the most trustworthy traveling companions, when it comes to all that.” 

“Well, who’s after you?” Jim pressed. 

“I’ll tell you again,” John returned. “It’s no concern of yours.” 

“I see,” Jim’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “You’re too much of a rogue and a pirate to let a guy like me help you out.”

“I’m not trying to drag you down with me,” John said, with a haunted look in his good eye. “I owe you that much, Jimbo.” 

Jim shook his head at John’s explanation, trying to make him see. “I owe you just as much. I’m not going to walk away.” 

Maybe it was John’s sense of self-preservation or maybe Jim was the only person he’d ever really believed in, but his cyborg gears turned and he looked a bit more hopeful. “Well, lad. What do you purpose?” 

Jim’s heart pounded at the sudden responsibility and he searched around for a viable plan. “We’ll have to bring you aboard as a stowaway.” 

“Stowaway? Where?” 

“On the _Legacy_! It’s just down at the dock and we’re leaving at first light. I was supposed to get provisions.” He glanced nervously at the sky, which was darkening. “Damn, it’s late. I’ll be in for it. But we could put you in a barrel and…”

“We won’t find a barrel large enough for me girth, Jimbo. And friendly as our last parting was, boarding with that she-cat of a captain after my previous comportment makes about as much sense as planning to jump out of the frying pan direct into the fire!” 

Jim grinned, alive with adrenaline. “It’s Doppler you have to watch out for. He’s very protective. But John, it’s the only ship we have a chance at right now. We’ve got to risk it.” 

“We will?” John asked sharply. “Us?” 

“Together,” Jim said firmly.


	2. Chapter 2

Jim went aboard first, getting quite the lecture on tardiness. He tried not to even glance at the lower deck for fear that Captain Amelia would see through his fib and sense the real reason he hadn’t showed up until right before dawn. 

Morph had slipped by to open the bottom hatch. They all three of them prayed that John Silver’s entrance would go unnoticed in the chaos of preparing the ship for launch. 

“You’ll earn your keep while you’re aboard this ship, Ensign Hawkins,” Amelia lectured. “I’ll not allow idleness or distraction.” 

“Yes, ma’am,” Jim agreed, though his gaze was wandering. He looked past her and felt his heart lift as the ship rose proudly in the pink morning sky. 

Amelia sighed. “Go to the galley. It’ll do you good to remember exactly where you got your start.” 

When the last potato was peeled, he nodded at the chef, a foul, toothy spacer who made the food too salty and soft. Jim casually dug a crisp apple from a barrel and wandered down toward the hold. He forced himself not to hurry. He didn’t want to arouse suspicions. 

The _Legacy_ had been around long enough to hide a few secrets, and John Silver knew them all. No amount of searching the shadows revealed his hiding place. 

“Give up, Jimbo?” At the low chuckle, Jim started violently, nearly dropping his apple. 

“Morph,” John prompted and Morph rematerialized for a cheeky moment, then formed the shape of a skeleton key, which opened on a small room hidden in the bow of the ship. 

“Well, this is convenient,” Jim commented, smile widening. He was starting to think they would actually get away with this, when he heard a small whacking sound, like a wee young tail wagging into one of the casks. 

“Shh,” hissed a feline voice, and the protest was echoed three times in increasingly bossy tones. 

“And who are these fine young things?” John asked, taking Victoria out from behind the barrel by the scruff of her neck. Caroline and Margot scrambled over the barrels. Charlie pushed his way forward. 

“Let go of my sister!” he barked. “You pirate!” 

“Hey, hey, hey,” Jim said, stepping forward. “Keep it down, would you?” 

“But he’s not supposed to be here, Uncle Jim!” Caroline protested. 

Victoria squirmed and scratched at Silver until the pirate dropped her. She landed on all fours and hissed at him before scurrying back to her siblings. 

“He’s a friend of mine,” Jim explained, holding up his hands to placate the lot of them. 

“He’s Long John Silver!” Charlie said, tail wagging with excitement.

Jim looked up in panic, but Silver had an indulgent smile on his face. He always knew how to play an audience. “So you’ve heard of me?” he asked, setting down where the children could stare curiously at his robotic eye and sniff at his bum cyborg leg. 

“We heard you’re ruthless and cruel!” Victoria declared, seeming thrilled with the idea. 

“And you stole Flint’s treasure!” Caroline added. 

“And eluded capture all this time,” Charlie declared. 

“And you brought Mama and Papa together,” Margot added, with obvious affection. 

“Those be the highlights,” John agreed, a twinkle in his eye. “Now Jim, did I ever tell you about the time I met with the Space Kraken! Nearly didn’t escape with my life. It’s how I ended up with this fancy hardware, see?” 

He told the story, with Jim listening as avidly as the younger audience. Halfway through the story, the ship rocked violently. 

“Space Kraken!” Charlie yelped. 

John’s face darkened.

“I’ll go see what’s going on,” Jim said. “You four, take cover. John, _hide_.” He said the last with a pleading look at Silver and pounded up the stairs to the top deck. Morph darted ahead. The kids ignored him and scrambled up to get a look, getting caught up in the chaos that greeted them on the top deck. Silver paused for a minute, before reluctantly backing into the shadows. 

Jim was half-expecting to see a terrifying space monster ready to crack through the hull. But it wasn’t that, or a storm, that had the ship pitching and the sailors taking up their stations. 

“The Devil is going on?” Amelia’s voice cracked above the tumult. Jim turned at the sound and they saw a giant dark ship, jolly roger undulating in the solar wind, overtaking the _Legacy_ and casting a dark shadow over all decks. 

“Pirates!” yelled one of the crewmen. Men flew to their battle stations, loading cannons at a determined pace. 

“Wait for my mark!” Amelia shouted, drawing a sword. 

“It’s Sweet William,” Jim said, horrified. That was the pirate after John? He was cruel and ruthless and rich, known for offering large bribes and buying up corrupt governments. His influence was vast and his resources nearly bottomless. 

John’s presence below deck had brought this nightmare to the _Legacy_ , he knew. If even one man died today, the blood would be on his hands. The thought moved him out to the front of the line, where grappling hooks were already starting to trap against the side of the ship and the first wave of pirates attempted to scramble over. 

Captain Amelia ran a tight ship and her crew was no stranger to conflict, but even they were hard pressed to keep their composure with the canon fire ripping into the hull, splintering wood and nearly blowing the _Legacy_ out of the sky. 

“Fire!” Amelia yelled, and the answering boom of cannon fire was almost instantaneous. They fired again as soon as their weapons were reloaded and seemed to be making headway. But the pirates scrambling over the ropes, some falling to their doom as the _Legacy_ crew beat them off, were bloodthirsty and reckless. Soon the first grimy boots hit the deck and the pirates leered menacingly as they advanced. Jim fought like a devil and the Captain simultaneously yelled orders and used her cutlass to fend off the attackers. 

Sweet William followed after the first wave of men and they knew him by the blue feathered plume on his hat and thin, crocodile snout. He stood taller than the rest, grinning a wide, terrifying smile with all of his 66 pointed teeth on display. 

“No! Hold your fire! Stop!” yelled Doppler. He was the first to see the child held tight to William’s chest, in mortal danger due to the pirate’s sharp teeth and ready weapon. 

“Cease fire!” Amelia seconded, as soon as she saw that her daughter Margot was trapped against the evil creature’s chest. The battle ground to a stop, with the crew of the _Legacy_ seeing they were beat. 

“You coward!” Jim couldn’t help snarling. 

Sweet William just chuckled. “I’m a reasonable man,” he said, with the silky voice that had given him his name. “Give me John Silver and no harm shall come to this feisty little one.” He ran a hand over Margot’s silky fur, as if in affection. Margot made a small whimper of fear. 

“We haven’t got John Silver!” Doppler growled desperately. 

Captain Amelia’s eyes went to the entrance to the holds, then she looked at Jim. There was an accusation there he couldn’t refute. 

Jim was about to confess, when John himself stepped onto the deck. “I’m the one you want. Leave the wee one to her parents.” 

Sweet William seemed satisfied by the trade. He let go of Margo and his men descended on John, shackling him and pushing him toward the plank set up between their boats. Jim felt a growing sense of horror as the event transpired and his hands clenched violently as he saw John walk into the pirate’s grasp. 

And they left. Jim stood frozen as Sweet William’s men swarmed back over to their own ship and the sailors made a show of detaching their two wounded vessels. Amelia fixed Jim with a hard look, gave the ship a heading and then led her family into the captain’s quarters to scold and hug them equally. 

Morph was gone. Jim worried distractedly about his constant companion, but was more filled with a great fear and dread. John Silver made his life complicated and terrifying, but he could barely face the idea of going on without him. Another five years seemed like an eternity and if he should fall… the idea brought a wave of bitter grief. He watched Sweet William’s ship until it was small on the horizon, wiping away any tears that fell. 

“Mister Hawkins,” Amelia said, finally distracting Jim from his vigil. “A word.”


	3. Chapter 3

The children were in bed, Doppler checking on them one last time, before he turned and looked at Jim. 

Expecting recriminations and anger, Jim was shocked to see a gentle type of understanding on his old mentor’s face. 

“I assume you are responsible for our stowaway,” Amelia began. 

“I never meant for anyone to be in danger,” Jim said immediately. “Or the ship.” 

“We all know that danger follows Long John Silver. He attracts it,” Amelia had given him harsher dressing downs for unpolished boots. In this she seemed gentle and resigned. That in itself was terrifying. 

“You know what he is,” Doppler said, exuding nerves and anxiety. “And I still think he’s too old for you.” 

“And gruesomely ugly,” Amelia added with a shiver of disgust. 

Jim hung his head, face hot with shame. “I’ve got to help him,” he said. 

“And then what?” Amelia demanded suddenly. “Become a _pirate_?” Her lip curled a bit at the idea. She walked over to her desk and picked up a thick file folder, slapping it down in Jim’s hand. 

He opened the file and saw, laid out in print, the charges against Long John Silver, his known associates, the wanted posters and warrants and witness accounts. 

“It’ll be more of the same,” Doppler said. “You’ll be hunted, on the run. What kind of life is that?” 

“I can’t just leave him with a pirate intent on tearing him limb from limb!” 

Amelia glanced at Doppler and they both nodded. “And he did give himself up for Margot,” she agreed, as if they had already discussed this. 

“We’ll not let you go alone,” Doppler said, picking up a star chart that mapped the trajectory of Sweet William’s ship.

“But you can’t leave your ship!” Jim protested. 

“They’ll probably stop here to make repairs,” Doppler mused, eyes narrowing as he sunk in to a reverie of logistics and planning. “It’s only a few hours away.” 

It took a moment for their offer to sink in, but then the generosity of it was almost overwhelming. “Thank you,” he said, letting out a breath of relief. “Thank you.” 

***

They took a small skiff, Amelia at the rudder and Jim directing the sail. Doppler called out the directions until he fell asleep. They were planning a covert rescue mission, speeding through the night to catch the pirates unaware.

The space port was alive with villainy, jolly rogers grinning at one another from a collection of ships and boats preparing to sail. They found the one they were looking for bobbing sideways while carpenters repaired the cannon blasts. 

Amelia and Jim had abandoned their uniforms to be more discreet. While Jim felt much more at ease in the loose white shirt and breeches. Amelia was uncomfortable in the motley pirate-wear. It was unnatural for her to be so unkempt. 

“Excuse me,” Doppler said, raising a finger at one of the gruff dock workers like he was a waiter in a fine restaurant. 

Jim quickly jumped in before the doctor could blow their cover. “We’ve got a message for Captain William. Where’d he go?” It didn’t do to be polite to pirates, especially if you were hoping to avoid extra attention. 

The man unloading the ship looked at them suspiciously and the three did their best to appear more piratey, going slack jawed and puffing out their shoulders. “He’s got a house a few blocks from the pier,” he said at last, shrugging as they hurried off. 

“Do you think that’s where he’s keeping John?” Jim asked anxiously as they wove through the streets, voices masked by the din of movement and loud voices. 

“I imagine he’s keeping the pirate pretty close,” Amelia agreed. “At least until he’s got the information he wants.” 

“John won’t give up his treasure,” Jim asserted, hoping the stubbornness wasn’t costing him too dearly. 

The house was bustling with activity. Men went in and out carrying boxes and relaying orders. “I hear he’s got Long John Silver in there!” Amelia said loudly. 

“He’s been bragging about it all over town,” sneered another voice. 

“I suppose he’s got him locked in the basement?” Doppler hazarded. 

“Well, how should I know where’s he’s got the cyborg held?” the pirate shouted. 

They went around to the back door, able to see through to the kitchens. Doppler drew a vial from his coat. “It’s a sleeping potion. A bit of this in food will have them out cold for twenty or thirty minutes.” 

“Brilliant man,” Amelia said approvingly. “Let’s see if we can’t get some to the guards.”

When the cook bustled out to scream bloody murder at the errand boy about the meat he’d fetched from the butcher, they snuck in. Doppler drew in a deep breath, sniffing the air, trying to get a scent of Silver. Jim dished up some kind of pungent stew and dosed it liberally. 

“It’s up, not down, I’m afraid,” Doppler said, pointing to the narrow staircase off the kitchen with its unknown perils. 

“Stay out of sight,” Jim instructed, hoping he was still young enough to pass for a cabin boy. He climbed the stairs, balancing the bowls on a tray strewn with crumbs. 

“These are for the men guarding the prisoner,” he announced to the pirates standing in the hall at the top of the stairs. 

“That swill? We don’t want any,” growled one of the guards. 

“Speak for yourself,” said the other, reaching out for a bowl. 

“Are you sure?” Jim asked nervously, and the guard just glared at him. “Okay, then. I better put this down,” Jim mumbled, hand on his sword. When the greedy guard keeled over, it took a moment for the event to register on his companion’s face and Jim’s dagger was already out. 

“You little pissant!” the pirate growled and attacked, knocking Jim to the side with his superior skill and size. 

Jim scrambled to his feet, ready for a fight. Before he could raise his dagger, the pirate dropped down, having been hit from behind with a sturdy looking cricket bat, floating midair. 

“Morph!” Jim said gratefully, quickly untangling the keys from the guard’s belt and finding the one to let him in toward his pirate. 

Jim had to admit John Silver wasn’t the most handsome of creatures: grizzled and battered from the battle, half machine from where the Kraken had dragged him down. But the fat lip stretched into a smile at the sight of Jim coming to the rescue and he radiated pure pride. “We’ve got to get you out of here,” Jim said, hurrying forward and shoving down the strange wave of emotions. 

“You came,” John said, struggling to his feet. 

“And Amelia and Doppler are downstairs. We’re getting free of this place.” 

Morph rushed ahead to act as lookout and they joined Amelia and Doppler downstairs. John was sure to be recognized out on the street, especially a street such as this one full of accomplishes and rivals. So they moved quickly out through the kitchen, shoving the cook aside and breaking into a run as the cries of alarm rose up. 

“You’ve done enough,” Jim panted, when they paused for a moment to let him catch up. “I still have a friend or two I can rustle up. I thank you.” 

“I would call us even,” Amelia said formally. 

“Yes, what you did, for our Margot,” Doppler said in a rush. 

“Only what any decent man would do,” John said, blushing. “And Jim,” he turned toward the younger man with anguish. 

“I’m not saying goodbye again,” Jim said, fiercely. “I’m going with you.” 

Amelia and Doppler looked dismayed. “But Jim!” Doppler protested. “What will I tell your mother?”

“Tell her I’ll be back. We’ll be home for Christmas.” Jim grabbed John’s hand and pulled him away, trying to keep to the shadows to avoid detection.


	4. Chapter 4

Silver smelled of oil and salt. His chest was warm and hard like Jim remembered. Half his limbs were synthetic, but his heart beat a steady, animal rhythm. 

He ducked his head to Silver’s chest, wrapping his arms around the gruff, pungent pirate and assuring himself that it really was John Silver. Though Jim had grown, filling out his frame and becoming a man, he was still dwarfed by Silver’s wide shoulders and belly. He still fit neatly under Silver’s chin.

And, because Jim was done with missed opportunities, he tilted his head up and kissed the pirate. _His_ pirate. 

“Eh, boy, what are you thinking?” Silver growled gently. He pulled away and pinned Jim with a piercing gaze. 

“I’m not a boy,” Jim corrected. “And it’s what I want for once.” 

John held his gaze. “Jimbo, you could have anyone you wanted out there.” As he said it, his hands squeezed Jim’s shoulders gently, as if he was going to give him a little shake to wake him up. “There are so many good things I’d keep you from.” 

“No one looks at me that way,” Jim said earnestly. “No one makes me feel like this, except you.” 

“They’re all blind then,” Silver said, shaking his head. “It’s really what you want?” he asked, hope slipping through like light through a crack in the hull. 

“I’ve overstayed my welcome in the service, anyway,” Jim said. 

+++

The Benbow was decked out for the holidays with evergreen bows and every room full. Sarah smiled and bustled around, like she always did, occasionally glancing out the window at the sky. She’d of course hoped that her son would chart a straight course, but Jim’s rebellious nature hadn’t changed with the haircut and sharp white uniform. He had a good heart, of course, and she was proud of him. That first year, he came home with exotic gifts and boisterous tales, ready to join in the dances, but with eyes always looking up to the stars. He was friendly, but distant, with the pretty girls Sarah discreetly sent his way and she could tell he just wasn’t interested. 

The harbor schedule alerted her to the Legacy’s docking, and the children’s voices made her grin and put aside her worry over Jim and the choices he’d made, or even where he was in the world. 

“Aren’t you a dear,” she said to Charlie, who was wearing floppy red bow tie. The kittens presented her with a giant flowering poinsettia plant they had chosen for her in their travels. 

“Alright troops!” Amelia said sharply. “Up and washed now, on the double!” 

“Aw,” they protested. 

“I hope the spies of the Father Winter can’t hear you,” Doppler said indulgently. “Or you’ll likely be taken off in the night to work in the mines instead of waking up to sweets and presents tomorrow morning.” 

“Oh, that’s just a myth,” Caroline scoffed. “Right?” 

The children moved quickly off to discuss what the great Polar Bear of the ice moon might bring them. They were safely tucked into bed when they heard a great bellow, like a large bear. “I think I hear him!” Charlie gasped.

“That’s just the wind,” Victoria scoffed. 

“No listen!” Charlie hissed. 

“James Pleiades Hawkins,” Sarah scolded in delight when she opened the door to see her son standing on the stoop covered head to toe in snow, cheeks red and a bright smile on his face. “You’ll catch your death of cold. Come in here this minute. And was that you bellowing just now? You’ll frighten the children.” 

Jim same in and stomped off some of the snow, leaving puddles all over the shiny wooden floor. “It wasn’t me,” Jim said, laughing. “Mom, you remember I told you about my friend? About John Silver?” 

The tall, rough-looking cyborg stepped in, as big as a polar bear and just as white with the snow. He swept off his hat and twisted it in his hands nervously. He seemed like a pirate right out of one of Jim’s books and quite out of place in Sarah’s little well-to-do inn. 

“Of course I’ve heard of John Silver. And I never got to thank you for giving us the means to build this place, again,” Sarah said warmly, shaking his hand. 

“Or box his ears for burning it to the ground,” Jim added gaily, his eyes were alight with more than just Christmas cheer. He seemed so happy, like Sarah had never seen him. 

“I’ve made all your favorites,” Sarah said, glad to have her son back home, glad he was radiant. “And we were just putting on some hot soup for Father Winter.” 

Jim put the duffle bags up in his old room, assuring his mother with blushes that he and John would both fit just fine. John grinned and set down his large sack, filled with the most fabulous presents for each and every one of them. Morph darted around and made sure to shake each one before stealing a cookie from the tray. 

“I don’t suppose there are any ill-gotten gains in that bag?” Amelia asked dryly. 

“I’ve saved up a bit for retirement,” John acknowledged with a twinkle in his eye. “And it’s the season to spread it around.” 

He went into the kitchen, putting on a clean white apron. Soon John was acting sous chef, following Sarah’s directions. Jim came down and perched on a stool, full of stories. 

“You did WHAT?” Sarah said, eyes widening at the harrowing tale of how the two of them had skirted a black hole, nearly being sucked into oblivion.


End file.
